Light In The Darkness
by XlikeX14
Summary: Eighteen years old Faith White is a typical american highschool girl which puts up up a happy front around her friends and family. In truth, she hides her true feelings often and is incredibly depressed over her weak self. When she couldn't take it anymore, she killed herself, only to find out that she woke up in her dream world - Thedas.
1. Death Wish

" **I want to die.** "

I lost count of how many times I thought about it. Every single day. As of young, I didn't have much of a presence in class. Prior to becoming friends with Cait's group, I didn't have any to call my own and barely spoke to anyone. I considered Caitlyn and myself as 'fakes', as both of us distanced ourselves from others, were often irritated by someone's behaviors and had trust issues.

This stemmed from my abusive household, as I believed that if I numbed my emotions, my mother couldn't inflict any more pain onto me. I often dreamed of escaping my cruel life and living on in a world far away from society where I could be free. There was one time in primary school, where we had to write down our dreams for the future. This is what I wrote:

" _When I get bigger, big enough to go somewhere by myself, I want to go to a land that's far away. I want to go to a faraway world. I want to go to an island that has no people. I want to go to an island that has no pain or sadness. On that island, I can climb a tree when I want to climb, swim in the sea when I want to swim, and sleep when I want to sleep. When I think about the town without me, I feel a sense of relief. I want to go far, far away._ "

When I was ten years old, my mother committed suicide because of me. Because I had the same eyes as my father who repeatedly beat her down, and became psychically unstable. When father wasn't home, she let out her anger on me, because I reminded her of him. How many times did I go to school with ugly bruises on my body? I can't tell. After her death, I was sent to an orphanage.

Nothing really changed until I got adopted by Maria and Nicolas White. They gave me everything I didn't have, trying to give me a better childhood. They became the first people that mattered to me. I found myself undeserving such good parents because I was broken from the start, beyond repair. But I didn't want to let their efforts go to waste.

I gave them the daughter they truly deserved on the outside while in the inside, I was slowly dying, drowning in my own darkness, fading away. I always put up a happy front around my friends and family, I hid my true feelings often and was incredibly depressed over myself.

The only thing that prevented me from killing myself anytime soon was my addiction for anime, depressing music, and most importantly my love for 'Dragon Age'. A dark fantasy role-playing video game series created by BioWare.

I was obsessed with it. It helped me escape from reality. I spent hours alone in my room playing through the games over and over again. I started to hate myself. Cassandra Pentaghast was my favorite character. Every time, I ended up romancing her in the game. I wanted to be like her: a strong, vigilant woman with unshakeable willpower and faith. But, it only showed me how weak I was in comparison to her, crushing my hopes in an instant.

When I turned eighteen, things got rough. I seemed to get crushed under the world's pressure. The reality was like a nightmare until I couldn't take it anymore. I was ready to commit suicide.

It was the 10th of September, my birthday, when I decided to die. I left a note for my parents on my desk, so they could find little solace from my death or even peace. I poured all my emotions into the letter, in hopes it would reach them. They didn't deserve someone like me. I was on the roof of an abandoned building, with my phone and the old letter from my childhood. I was dressed in my favorite clothes, ate my favorite food, drank my favorite drink, so I could leave this world for good. It was a beautiful night. The stars were enlightening the clear night sky. I looked up as if looking for someone. Then I started speaking everything off my heart.

"I am so sorry... mother and father. You were always so kind to me, so loving, all for me. I thank you for everything you've done for me. I-... Oh, God... I should have opened up more to you. But-... I was afraid to tell you of my feelings, afraid... I was always so afraid. I believed my feelings are only a burden to others. That was the beginning of my depression." Emotions clogging my voice, tears freely streaming down my cheeks like a waterfall.

"I am a waste of life. If I would trade my life for some ill kids who are dying young in the hospital. I would to it, without hesitation. Because they deserved to live, unlike me." My gaze was still fixed on the sky when a shooting star appeared.

"I am a dreamer. Someone who doesn't fit in this world. I am better off dead. If there is a God in this world... I have only one wish." I stopped for a moment, carefully reconsidering my next choice of words. I knew that it was selfish of me to ask anything from God and that I already threw away the greatest gift He gave us.

"I want to go to a land that's far away. I want to go to a faraway world. I want to go to Thedas that has humans, qunari, dwarves, and elves. I want to go to a Thedas that was created by my mind. On that Thedas, I can do everything I want. I am omnipotent yet not a god. I want to be there and watch from the sidelines as everything ages, but not me. And when the time arrives, I will welcome death as an old friend. When I think about this world without me, I feel a sense of relief. I want to go far, far away."

Were my last words before I jumped off the edge of the building, falling into my death. As soon as I hit the ground, there was nothing just darkness, my consciousness fading away until a voice woke me up.

* * *

"Oh you poor soul, which had never seen the true day of light." said the unknown person in a soft voice.

"Your wish shall be fulfilled, my child. But, to one condition."

"Use the power given to you to do only good. Save those who are getting swallowed by the darkness, repair those who are broken, heal those who are hurt. Never once are you allowed to take someone's life even if they deserve it. Show the world that there is light even in the impenetrable darkness if one only remembers to kindle it."

"I am not sure If I can. I am weak and broken, how can I save someone when I couldn't even save myself?" I protested, my mind unsure.

"Yes you can, my child. It's because of that experience, that you are capable to understand one's pain, you look at people with sympathy, not rejection or disgust." I was left surprised by the person's comforting words. Nobody has ever said something like that to me.

"But... how?" I doubted, still not getting it.

" **Just be you _._** " the soft voice replied right away. The whole time, I was hiding my true self, how can I bring it forth now? Do I even know my true self anymore? There was a silence between us before the soft voice appeared once more.

"This is where we part, my child. Remember the words you have been told, and if you happen to forget it... Don't worry, just look at your back. Now, open your eyes, my child..." I did as told, and once I opened my eyes, panic flooded my mind.

" **And fly.** " The last words were like a faint whisper.

I was high in the sky, surrounded by fluffy clouds. Trying not to get a heart attack.

* * *

Greetings, my dear readers! It's you're dear author speaking! I know it's short, but I somehow had this sudden surge of new content, and I wanted to post it if you might like it. Anime fans might have noticed that some words are familiar. It's true and I won't deny that this story was inspired by animes like Orange, Erased, etc. So mostly anime with a sad story. Nevertheless, thank you for your support and feel free to review!


	2. Contact

Faith's heart raced in her chest and she stopped breathing for a good few seconds as she looked at the her surroundings. She was falling at increasing speed towards the ground.

" _Oh my God, this can't be happening... Not again._ "

She couldn't deny that she was afraid to die. The first time was scary enough though she was so overwhelmed by emotions, that she managed to push the fear aside and do it. But this time it was something else, she was falling to her death consciously and not by choice. Before Faith could surrender to fear, she gathered all the willpower she possessed and thought of a possibility to survive. The last words of the unknown person ringed repetitively in her ear.

" _And fly..._ " She concentrated on these particular words, musing about their meaning as best as she could at the moment.

Her time was running out. In a matter of minutes, she was about to crash into the ground. Leading to her certain death. Until she wasn't aware of the strange feeling on her back. She turned her head around only to find the most shocking thing in her life.

"I have wings?!" She sounded like a little child. For a moment, she forgot about everything else and just looked at her pair of white-feathered angel-like wings sticking in between her shoulder bones.

Her eyes wide in wonder until a strong wave of wind struck her face, breaking her stupor in an instant.

Now everything the unknown person said made sense, but there was still one problem.

"How am I supposed to fly when I have never flown before?" The question hung up in the air. Making her overflow with panic when she already saw the landscape forming under her.

" _Jesus Christ on Earth, what am I supposed to do? What should I do? What the fuck should I do?!_ " Her mind panicking to the utmost until it turned into mindless anger.

The wings haven't responded to anything she did. As every rational notion left her mind and her body was about to crash into a vast green valley of trees, as the last attempt, she cried out loud with every ounce of her body, spirit, soul.

" **FUCKING OPEN!** " she closed her eyes, as she had shouted it out loud. And much for her relief, it worked.

They opened up once their master's words reached them. Though they did slow her down excessively once they've opened, she still wasn't fully in control of them and couldn't move them even an inch. Despite that, Faith tried to land smoothly on the soft grassy ground, clumsily hitting at least a dozen things, branches, stems in the process, making her look like a drunk bird.

She was surprised that her wings didn't manage to get stuck somewhere as she tried to descend from the sky through the thick light-green leaf crowns. Once she passed through it however, she landed not so gently on the ground.

The impact of her body and the otherwise soft ground still managed to kill off the remaining oxygen in her lungs. And for a split of a second, she felt as if every bone in her corpus was shattered. Panting to get air back into her lungs, she passed out for a moment.

* * *

It didn't take her long to wake up. She sprung back up to her feet as if waking up from a bad dream. But it wasn't just a dream. It all happened. The images flooded back into her memory. Her death, the soft voice of the unknown person, the fall... Struggling to make sense of what happened, she fell back into the caressing embrace of the short grass, feeling the burning pain from the many nicks and bruises on her skin.

The leaves and short pieces of wood unpleasantly entangled in her hair and wings, forcing her to scrabble steeply through her shoulder-length hair as if she had pesting louses. The pure white colour of her wings was now blemished with dirt and mixed with broken off pieces of branches, though she expected no less since she flew 'expertly' through the trees.

Despite the pain and her troubling thoughts, she stood up to look around, only to find herself in the middle of a vast forest of yet untouched beauty, wondering if she got lucky or it was like this everywhere.

She gasped at the breathtaking view around her, pushing aside every other thought which was running through her mind. From high up above, this seemed like a normal forest to her, but looking from a different ankle made her quickly reconsider what 'normal' meant to her. For all the negative attributes she claimed to possess, there was only one thing she knew for sure, she was by far not stupid.

She couldn't have spent her whole free time only playing games, watching anime or listening to depressing music. She wouldn't be much better than she was before, and Faith wanted to make her new parents as proud as possible.

Learning didn't belong to her favourite things of doing, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be and found herself more interested later on. She managed to get nearly top grades in school, earning respect or sometimes jealous glares from her fellow pupils.

" _Good thing I paid attention at school._ " She analyzed one of the many trees around her like a researcher. They reminded her of Hyperion.

The highest living tree on Earth with a height of 115 meters, though he could have been even higher. They did look very much alike. Though she saw it just from a picture in her geography book.

" _But the one on Earth was a conifer and this one is this world -_ Faith had no idea what world though _\- is deciduous._ "

" _Guess I will name them 'Hiperion'._ " A mischievous grin escaped her. God, she felt so silly for her poor attempt at humour that it wasn't almost real.

Faith wandered slowly through the peaceful forest, giving familiar names to anything that catches her interest. From colourful flowers to abnormal trees. God help her, she felt like Alice in Wonderland. The scenery was alike.

Once in a long time, she felt at peace, nothing scary, stressful, unpleasant. Was this her heaven or God's paradise? Faith dismissed the sentiment once she recalled the words of the unknown person and her last wish before she died.

" _'Your wish shall be fulfilled', it said. Though I don't recognize this part of Thedas. If it even is Thedas. The Emerald Graves maybe? Or a predecessor of the Brecilian Forest? Or even the old Arlathan Forest presumably?_ "

"So many questions but no answers!" She shouted angrily, losing her temperament. Faith wasn't usually the type to get angry at all, but this surely broke through her self-control. She felt amazing and frustrated the same.

Her heart jumped in her chest in throes of joy thinking about being in Thedas. But, there were still too many questions left unanswered. If she only could use her wings properly, but the damn things didn't work on her command.

* * *

She walked abstractedly about an hour straight. Speculating, planning, trying to wrap her mind about everything, until she heard a faint sound of moving water.

" _A river?_ " Shot through her mind once she paid it more attention.

Faith followed the louder getting sound until she reached a thin river. It flowed slowly and made that soothing 'plop' tone, which calmed her down a bit. She slightly bent over it, the water so pure that she could see the stones on its bottom with utmost clarity. Faith tried to find her reflection on it, to no vain. But she expected nothing less. It was moving after all.

Nevertheless, she utilized it in other ways. Though she hasn't been feeling thirsty or hungry from the moment on when she fell into this world, she drank just to be sure and cleansed her sweaty face.

" _A proper bath would be nice._ " She imagined the hot baths she used to have back home, almost falling asleep from the amount of comfort it offered her. She let out a sight, knowing she would miss them terribly. Couldn't be helped. She had to move on.

" _Maybe if I follow the river, it might lead me to some bigger pond. Worth a try, I guess._ " She rolled her shoulders.

Faith patiently followed it, noticing the river getting wider any passing kilometre. At the end of it, was a presumably 8 meters high waterfall, along with other two plus three smaller rivers infusing into one big mainstream. Though the main stream's flow was slowed down by a cut-down tree laying horizontal on it.

" _Looks like an amateur dam._ " she chuckled at the poor installation.

 _"But wait... Someone had to build it, which means there must be someone living nearby. It was only logical. Most ancient civilizations were founded nearby big water reservations._ " A feeling of relief and anticipation overcame her.

" _So this means I get to meet my first elf, human, dwarf, or qunari!_ " A real girly shriek came from the usually sad woman. She chuckled happily from her reaction.

" _God listen to me, sounding like some JB fangirl._ " She put a hand on her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Though I think that it would be unlike to find a qunari or a dwarf here in the woods. Isn't particularly their environment. Depends on what age it is. Because I - as a faithful DA fan know - that the elves were here even before the humans arrived from the north..." stated Faith expertly.

" _I should probably stop talking to myself or I will become paranoid._ "

Faith went around the pond, so she could enter it more easily. As she was on its shore, she finally got a better reflection of herself from the water. Her pure black hair was freely hanging down to her shoulders and her light grey mixed with blue eyes were the same as ever.

Though her clothes were different from the ones she was wearing at her death. She was dressed in a simple white dress, though it was now all muddy. Nothing more than that. No bra, no underpants, no shoes... nothing.

" _Holy, I feel like a newborn._ " She flushed and became flustered from her nakedness.

" _Well, it doesn't matter now. I need a bath and that's all. At least I don't have to waste time with undressing._ " She tried to drive away the uncomfortable feelings for the time being.

She carefully looked around to be sure she was safe to go. Then stripped off her dress as best as she could muster with the wings being in her way. After a few curses and great effort, she managed to get free and jumped right into the water.

Although the climate was overly warm, the water was oddly cold. Maybe from the time, it was covered in shade. It felt a bit chilly on her heated body, from walking around and all that. She went a few meters further into the pond, so the water reached her belly.

The something between stony and earthy bottom felt relaxing on her bare feet. Faith expected a slight 'stingy' pain once the water made contact with her untreated, hopefully not infected, nicks from the landing, but there was none. She wondered how she quickly forgot about them or if they disappeared. Once she examined her body, she was quite surprised.

 _"Completely healed! No trace at all!_ " She skipped her fingers on her skin to be sure she wasn't just imagining things.

"Another question for another time, I suppose." She huffed, knowing that it was useless to speculate about it now.

For now, she focused on washing her dirty body clean. Humming a familiar song in the process. Singing was one among her favourite things of doing, and she had a voice of gold. She was proficient in all types of genre that could be sung aside from metal and opera.

" **If I told you that I love you would tell what would say. If I told you that I hate you would you, would you go away...** " She sang just as she had listened to it so many times in her bedroom.

Every time she began to sing, everything ceases to exist around her, her mind was trapped in her own world. She put everything into her voice: her heart, soul, emotions. Her mind wildly fantasising as the rhythm of the song was playing in her mind. If she was to explain it to someone, the most precise description would be that it was like an AMV on YouTube, but more real.

" **Now I need your help with everything that I do. I don't wanna lie, I am very relying on you.** " Her eyes were shut as if savouring the moment. Not noticing the young man behind her back watching her from his cover.

The blond haired boy had a wooden bucket in his hands and was hiding behind a bush once he saw Faith. He had done his best not to shriek in fear, though he muffled it in time with his hands and went for a cover.

" **Falling again, I need a pick-me-up. I have been calling you a friend, I might need to give it up.** " That's where she began to rock.

Her voice singing to invisible music in her mind. But something unexpected happened, something Faith didn't notice at first. The music she thought she was just hearing in her head was actually very audible on the outside. Although the young man was thrown off at first from the abstract new tunes he was hearing and didn't perceive a single word from the lyrics, he found himself quickly drawn to the song, to her.

" **I am sick and I am tired too. I can admit, I am not fireproof. I feel it burning me. I feel it burning you.** "

The tune was utterly melancholic and every time Faith raised her voice in a higher tune with her soft voice of silk, he felt as if his heart was pierced through with something sharp, and felt indescribable. The man had lost control of his body, everything around him dimmed into fuzzy colours, vacantly getting closer to her from behind and sat down to the shore where Faith's dress was laying on the ground.

" **I hope I don't murder me. I hope I don't burden you. If I do, I do.** "

His blue eyes solely fixed at the unknown person or animal standing in front of him. Enamoured by its presence.

" **If I meet you in the middle maybe we could agree.** "

It had wings like a bird, a body so slender yet not thin along with faded skin colour, and pure black hair darker than the deepest black, opposing to her overall light-coloured appearance.

" **You make feel little how you're looking at me."**

Her voice was soft as the clouds on a clear sky, still could be higher than a mountain's peak or deeper than the bottom of an ocean.

" **And you can call me shade, all it does is just cool me off**."

The boy was entranced by its surface and enamoured by its sounds. He skipped breathing to exclusively hear every change of tune, pitch, sounds from Faith's singing.

" **First it just threw me off, now I am just moving on.** "

The man didn't mind hearing the somehow familiar passage of the song again. What he did perceive was how the background rhythm slightly changed than the first time as Faith repeated.

" **Falling again, I need a pick-me-up. I have been calling you a friend, I might need to give it up.** "

The rhythm got a bit louder this time, and so was Faith's voice. The first time seemed like a warm-up for this.

" **I am sick and I am tired too. I can admit, I am not fireproof. I feel it burning me. I feel it burning you. I hope I don't murder me. I hope I don't burden you. If I do, I do.** "

The melody suddenly calmed down to such an extent that it was incomparable to the beginning, like the silence before a storm. And Faith's voice, the middle of it.

" **Swim with me. I think I can see the beach. I know what's underneath. I need you here with me. But we're out in the open.** "

Unexpectedly, Faith's voice was simultaneously getting louder and louder with background music, each passing second, and recited the same passage in a quicker pace. The water, in which she was standing, was vibrating along the louder getting rhythm, creating small waves on the pond's surface. And out of nowhere, the blue clear sky was replaced by a dark shade of grey countless clouds, indicating heavy rain along with a strong wind.

" **Swim with me. I think I can see the beach.** "

As if instinctively sensing the incoming uncertainty. His heart stopped in sheer anticipation of the unknown or perhaps it was even fear. His body tensed up, sending shivers down his spine. A storm was coming.

" **Just don't look underneath us. I need you here with me. Don't let it go.** "

She muzzled the last few words as if she was about to pass out, just to literally shout the last lines of the song.

" **I am sick and I am tired too!** "

She shouted on top of her lungs as if life ceased to exist if she didn't. The man could only gasp at the scenery, eyes full of wonder. It was like any coherent thoughts simply perished.

" **I can admit, I am not fireproof. I feel it burning me. I feel it burning you!** "

The weather was storming without anything to hold it back. Waves raging unpredictable in all directions, and the wind blowing wildly, crushing anything in its wake. It was like a nature inferno.

" **I hope I don't murder me!** "

Yet the boy wasn't afraid.

He felt the touch of the wind, rough yet so gentle. The touch of the water, cold yet a bit warm. A dangerous reminiscent storm, yet not meant to hurt.

It had another purpose. A deeper meaning, hiding behind thick layers of platitude. Easily misjudged. Not visible to those who only see with their eyes.

" **I hope I don't burden you!** "

He could literally taste the despair in its voice, the fear lingering in the air, the anguish in the waves, the sadness emitting from it. This were Faith's emotions.

" **If I do, I do.** " The last words were nothing more than a whisper. And so, the rhythm stopped and everything went back to normal without Faith even noticing anything. She opened her eyes, only to drastically turned her head around to the sudden sound of movement.

"Aaaaa...!" Before she could register anything else, she had let out a really girly shriek from seeing the young elven man behind her, getting down at moment's notice so she could hide her naked body under water.

" _OMG, HE SAW EVERYTHING!_ " Embarrassment taking ahold of her. Feeling the heat flooding her cheeks even under the cold water.

"Aaaaa...!" He shouted back with a childish voice and ran instinctively away at his fastest, leaving the bucket behind. And so, the elf disappeared into the woods.

Faith had looked around before she quickly got out of the pond and put her dress on.

"I think he listened to me singing." She said to herself while looking in the direction where the boy ran out.

* * *

Note: Song - The Neighbourhood - The Beach

AN: Sorry if it is a bit shitty, but I am super inexperienced in describing something and my English too, so sorry and I hope you like it anyways.


	3. How To Not Meet An Elf

" _It was only obvious, that I reacted the way I did. **He** is a **BOY** and _**_I_** _am a **GIRL** and **HE** saw **MY NAKED BODY**. Though how have I not noticed his presence earlier?_" Faith didn't know if she should be offended or happy.

Because she could swear she saw a pair of pointy ears on the boy's head. Along with prying blue eyes. Whether they rested on her bare body or her voice was debatable.

 _"I hope he hasn't lost his virginity on me._ " Another lame joke, but enough to make her lighten up her mood a bit.

" _Well, too late for that now. Oh! He left something behind!_ " She lifted the hastily thrown away bucket, examining it closely. She had the intention to run after him anyways. Now she got another reason besides her own curiosity. At least she was now somewhat clean. Faith recalled the direction he ran away in order to go after him.

* * *

A few hours later...

"Aaaaand... I am lost." She let out a tired frown. At first, it was easy to just follow the boy's footprints until they vanished out of nowhere. Either way, she was calamitously unskilled in tracking or he covered his tracks well. The lesser sounded more plausible. From then, Faith relied solely on her instincts and intuition. Which proved to be a big mistake.

"Well... fuck this! Fuck that! Fuck everything!" She shouted loudly enough for anybody to hear and sat down on a near stone in the clearing, tossing the bucket away.

Frankly, she couldn't care less at the moment. Faith wasn't usually the type to use such a vulgar manner of speech, but... Who actually gave a fuck?! She was most likely alone in this unknown world and was undisputed that no one in her previous world would miss her. Well, maybe Maria and Nicolas, but they would quickly get over it and replace her. Perhaps Caitlyn too, if she still remembered her.

"Can't something just once work in my life?" The sun was soon going down and was replaced by a stellated night sky with some gauzy clouds passing lazily by. Still, it was a beautiful sight with the sky being so open to her.

Almost like the night, she committed suicide. Her lips turned downwards once she so kindly reminded herself of such a memory. She didn't know why she felt so sad about it. It was what she wanted. Yet there was this doubt or perhaps regret. Hard to tell.

" _Not that it matters anyway._ " There was this incredibly sad humour and irony which made her feel like crying, but she held it back. Just as she had done it every time.

Faith had cried enough tears back in her room or somewhere private. 'There was no need to cry now', at least that's what she repeatedly has been trying to hoax on herself and over again.

" _Maybe a song would help,"_ she thought.

Music really was everything to her, it was always there regardless of how her life was going. It never failed her to make her feel somewhat better.

Faith lied down into the grass, using the stone she sat on just a while ago as a pillow for her head. It was a strange feeling with her wings on her back, but the feathers were more comfortable than she thought.

" _What should I sing? Hmm..._ " Her gaze never left the stars on the sky. She generally searched her mind for some fitting songs based on how she was feeling at the moment or from her current situation.

" _Ah- That's a good one._ " She reimagined the song's lyrics and rythm before singing.

" **Wait right here. I'll be back in the morning.** " Her voice was not louder than a whisper. As if she was singing a lullaby to a baby. Her eyes unfocused, staring into the distance on the view upon her.

" **I know that I'm not that important to you but to me girl, you're so much more than gorgeous... so much more than perfect...** " The original singer sang the song in an always same tune and beat along with a guitar's deep vibrations in the background. She wished she would have one at disposal right know.

" **Right now I know that I'm not really worth it if you give me the time I can work on it. Give me some time while I work on it. Losing your patience and girl, I don't blame you, the earth's in the rotation, you're waiting for me.** " In the back of her mind, she was aware that the song she picked was more or less unsuited.

But Faith wanted to sing something from her more emotional playlist such as Lil Peep or XXXTentaction. Those two were her pillars holding her damaged foundation together. When times got rough, their lyrics were her remedy. Not that they were the only ones, just her favourite.

" **Look at my face, when I fuck on your waist, cause we only have one conversation a week. That's why your friends always hating on me. Fuck'em though, I did this all by myself. Matter of fact, I ain't never ask no one for help. And that's why I don't pick up my phone when it rings...** "

Lil Peep's 'I don't give a fuck' attitude amazed her more than the seven world wonders. And hearing his music brought her some sense of comfort, knowing that it wasn't just her feeling that way.

" ** _When I'm falling to pieces. Look at the sky tonight, all of the stars have a reason. A reason to shine a reason like mine, and I'm falling to pieces..._** "

This was her passage of the song and the main reason she picked it in the first place. Her heart ached from the amount of pain the memories stirred up inside her, not noticing that one stray tear escaping her eyelids.

" **As I'm falling to pieces...** " She reached out one hand high up to the sky, trying to catch the stars in her palm. They were like tiny jewels, decorating the otherwise plain dark surface of the atmosphere with the moon being the biggest, enlightening the night with their light.

And before Faith knew it, she fell asleep.

* * *

The sound of voices woke her from her slumber. Voices that spoke words she couldn't understand but were familiar to her. She didn't pay them much attention, cause she thought she was still dreaming or perhaps imagining things. Until they became louder, and she already heard their footsteps coming closer.

"Then mala bor'assan la mi!" Faith jolted at the sudden cry of an elf. Her eyes sprung open and she thought her heart broke through her chest.

 _"What the-..._ " Shock wasn't even close to describing the expression pasted on her face. There were many elves surrounding her, their bows spun and sharp spears pointing at her. Each and every erratic move meant either to get thrust by an arrow or spear.

Their expressions wary focused on their prey. Cornering Faith like a wild animal. Faith stood slowly up and raised her both of her hands, to show them she was unarmed. Keeping her face from showing any signs of aggression or something to make them attack her.

" _God, please help me. I hope that they understand._ "

Her body was trembling in fear, her palms became wet and she was sweating. Faith was terrified beyond reason. A red-haired male elf signalled the others to stop and approached her. Never taking his eyes off her. He stopped by the spear's reach and examined Faith from up close.

Faith wanted to say something, to convince them she was no animal to be slain but found herself unable to. The immense fear made it hard to think, and her mind shut down.

"Garas quenathra?" The elf's eyes met Faith's, with no harm in them, only curiosity. She heard this phrase somewhere but couldn't recall it's meaning. The elf she was having contact with seem to be the leader of this 'hunt'. Though he was a bit taller and his curly hair had the colour of autumn leaves and pearl green eye like the forest itself.

" _Get yourself together, Faith White! Why are you panicking when you know nearly everything about them?!_ " She mentally encouraged herself. If they wanted to kill her, she would be dead by now. The notion helped her to calm down a bit.

She straightened her spine and, brushed her hair from her eyes in order to appear more proud and confident. What to her, and everyone else's surprise, worked. They unintentionally spread out in reaction to her posture. Her presence was suddenly enormous and it made the elves's eyes went wide for at least a few seconds.

Looking at her as something majestic, unearthly, maybe even god-like. While most of them saw Faith like this, some starred at her with terror, leaving them to submit their senses to panic, attacking the mysterious creature in front of them.

The sound of arrows flying broke the moment. Every elf turned their gaze in shock to the three archers from whom the sound came from. Those three were heavily panting as if waking up from a nightmare and terror was written all over their faces.

Faith felt something in her chest. A warm liquid dripping slowly down her stomach. A perfectly placed arrow to the heart. It was blood. Her blood. Pouring out of her nose and soon out of the corner of her lips. She felt the copper taste flooding her senses.

Her body getting stiffer each second until she dropped loudly on her knees, averting the shocked elves's attention back to her. The first to take action was their leader. Quickly reacting to the current situation, he sprinted towards Faith, who passed out the next seconds. Her injured body hitting the hard ground.

"Shem! Ma halani!" He called out to the other elves who were still sane and they helped him to lift her up. It took many of them to escort her to their home. They were aware that she would most likely not make it alive but tried anything in their power to save her.

* * *

Note: Song - Lil Peep - Star shopping


	4. The Day I Died

Faith's consciousness drifted from the blackness into reality. Back and forth, in and out. She couldn't open her eyes, couldn't control her body, couldn't do anything. Yet, once in a while, she heard faraway voices of someone, but only for a fraction of moment. Before she was pulled back. Then, one day, she woke up from her slumber.

Her senses were still weak and she thought her body weighted more than a ton. She forced her eyelids open, only to see everything in hazy colours, her eyes not able to focus. Her mouth was dry, and the walls of her throat painfully itched as a kind reminder. She couldn't bring two coherent thoughts together, so in exhaustion, she fell back into her dreams.

* * *

Five days earlier...

The strange creature was gruesomely heavy or was it just its wings? Feyrel couldn't tell, right now, he was more preoccupied with not losing his balance while carrying it to their home and giving orders to the others. He and his hunting companions were running on a rigid pace. There was a life to be saved.

Though Feyrel feared it is too late, judging by the severity of the creature's injuries. It was his fault, it happened while he was in command. Knowing that sent shivers down his spine and guilt swept through his mind. He failed as a leader. Besides an arrow piercing through its chest, there were another two stuck in its wings. Its beautiful white wings now tainted with red spots of blood. It should be dead on spot after this shot but was amazingly still breathing, even if it only were uneven hitched breaths. It was still fighting for its life.

" _How could I let this happen? It hadn't even attacked us or posed any danger._ " He shook his head.

Once they reached the gates, Feyrel shouted from far away for the guards to open them.

"Quick! Open the gates!" The guards looked at them in confusion, but obliged right away, without question.

Raising suspicion and questionable looks from bystanders as they sprinted through the streets, starring at the obscure creature they were carrying. Taking shortcuts to get to the most skilled healer there was in this village.

Mythal, who was also the elder of this village and head healer of this community, in addition to that being one of the few persons to be able to use magic. She was well-versed in such matters and a leader Feyrel could only dream to be.

Mythal was his idol, he would follow her anywhere and her command was his law. She had the voice of the people and knew the troubles of the common folk and always acted in favour of the masses. Always doing things what were best for her people, caring for them. That's why they listened to her, favoured her, some even worshipped her. Believing she was something like a higher being on this world, which she ultimately denied, saying she was no different from them.

" _If only she had been there instead of me, this wouldn't have happened._ "

They barged into the infirmary, with a loud bang of the doors. Sending the healers as well as the patients on alert in an instant.

"Mythal!" Shouted Feyrel aloud. Moving Faith's body to place her onto the nearby bed.

The loud cry resonated all over the infirmary. Loud enough for Mythal to hear, even when she was on the second floor tend to a young elven girl which was troubled by a persistent fever. Hearing her friend's intense call, she ordered her assistant to stay by the girl's side while she sprinted down the wooden stairs. Nearly slipping off the staircase as she made her way down.

Feyrel and the other three elves were heavily panting from the carrying and had barely time to catch their breaths.

"Please help it!" Feyrel managed to say to Mythal before she came sprinting to them.

Mythal was taken back by her new patient's appearance. She looked overall like them yet so different. She had vivid black shoulder length hair and her body was slender. Mythal assumed that she is of female gender with the proof being her breast, but the wings caught most of her attention and her ears were unlike that of the elven people. Less pointy at the tip of the ear.

Looking in her friend's eyes in search of answers. One look was enough, he didn't know either. One thing was sure for everyone near it. It stopped breathing for a while now. Yet, Feyrel had done everything in order to save it, but it was far too late and the worst part for him was that he already knew it.

Mythal stretched out her hands, her palms roaming inches away from Faith's body. Her palms glowing in a light-green glow. The injuries were too severe to be healed, and Mythal already felt the blood getting colder in the creature's body. Faith had died.

Mythal stepped back and took a few deep breaths before she told them. "It's dead."

Mythal felt bad for each lost life, even if it was just an animal. It pained her. But the expression on Feyrel's face was crushing her heart. While Mythal returned to the other patients, Feyrel cleaned the creature's lifeless body, his expression unreadable.

* * *

Five days after her death...

Faith slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on her back, completely naked, but still most of her body covered up with a sheet. Before she could regain her other senses, she skimmed one hand on the left side of her chest, expecting there to be an arrow stuck in it.

Feeling nothing, she used what little strength she had left to support the weight of her upper body with her elbows in order to take a look on her chest, finding only a black hole of dried blood over her left breast. Before she could comment on how ugly and distasteful it looked, she noticed it was properly cleaned and mainly wondered where the pain had gone.

Though braced for it the next seconds, anticipating it would come once she was back to normal, yet there was none. Then, she could only gasp in wonder, when she saw the wound on her chest close in record time right before her.

"Are you FUCKING kidding me?" As if her strength came back, she shot up into a sitting position, touching her chest with both hands in disbelief. No traces of the injury were left, which reminded her of the scratches she had earlier and as they disappeared without her taking notice. She didn't put much thought into it at that time but know she found herself utterly startled. She possessed regenerative abilities. It reminded her of the many anime characters which had such abilities too, but never actually thought she would have something alike.

" _Wait-. How am I even alive? I am sure that I died._ " She thought, confusion pasted on her face. That's when she was shocked another time. She jerked back as a few hair strands fell in front of her eyes. Finding them not in her familiar colour. She grasped a few of them in her hand to closely analyse them.

"What the fuck Bioware?!" She shouted out loud enough for anyone to hear in this building. Her usually pure black hair turned into a radiant platinum blonde. An odd notion struck through her mind, she froze for a moment.

" _The fuck am I Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul or what?_ "

She hoped not, even though it would have been cool. She wouldn't want to be a ghoul in this world. She wouldn't want to be a ghoul overall. Faith found herself in a really quick need of a mirror. Worried that it wasn't just her hair colour that had changed.

Faith covered her body in the sheet and got swiftly up to her feet, not caring how many things her wings hit in the process. But judging by the loud cracking noises, there were many. She paced around the room. Searching at least something that could reflect her image, even just a little bit. Her short search stopped once a female elf has opened the door.

Once their eyes met, they both froze immediately. The elf's face has become deadly pale as she stood there in the doorstep. The wooden box the elf was carrying dropped on the ground. Cracking into pieces on the sturdy wooden concrete.

" _Is she seeing a ghost or something?_ " They continued to stare at each other. Each passing second becoming more and more awkward. Faith wanted to disrupt the sudden silence, so she took action.

"Umm... Hello?" Was the best her brain came up with. The elf made a run for it and escaped.

 _"Well done Faith! You fucked up... **AGAIN**!_"

She sarcastically applauded herself in her mind. She face-palmed her forehead, disappointed from her repeated way of poorly handling the situation.

Shouldn't she be more happy about it? She met her first elf, something she could only dream or fantasise in her world, even when the encounter wasn't one of the most pleasant ones. To put it simply, it ended the worst way possible. They killed her.

Thank God, the adrenalin prevented her from experiencing most of the pain the shot in the heart would have caused. She shook her head as she reminded herself of the moment. And it sent down shivers along her back.

Speaking of which...

" _Where on Earth am I and how long has it been since I died?_ " she asked herself, the thoughts making her heartbeat quickening once again.

Well, she was in a room which was equipped only with a bed, nightstand, and two windows. It was made completely out of wood and it was lighted with torches. Faith smelled a strong smell of herbs, or it reminded her of apocalyptic balms and other bio cosmetics she used to have. She anticipated a hospital, but it remained for discussion.

Her speculation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Mythal and Feyrel with the young female elf from earlier. Their expressions unreadable, as their eyes paced up and down Faith's functioning body.

* * *

They couldn't believe what they saw. When Mythal's assistant came utterly shocked down to them, saying she saw the creature's corpse move, they assumed it was just some random spirit or demon claiming the body for itself, something that tends happen once in a while. They are always attracted to the world of the living. But the quite unexpected happened.

Ordinarily, while spirits do have control of the corpse, it's too much for them to take on. It overwhelms them and they often become confused by the new environment they find themselves in. Therefore leaving the body right away and return to their original form. If it was a demon, which happened only on rare occasions, they would have possessed the body, but not be able to maintain the body's original appearance, changing it into their own. Often monstrous, abstract even bizarre semblance which was extremely dangerous, if it came that far.

But it was nothing like Feyrel and neither Mythal have experienced before. The winged creature stood before them, healthy and rising to its full height. No traces of any injuries it had succumbed to.

"I am absolutely sure it was dead," Mythal whispered into Feyrel's ear, quiet enough for Faith not to hear. Though she wouldn't have understood it anyway since she didn't speak elven.

"Me too. But how is it standing right in front of us?" He asked sceptically. He had no clue how to feel right now.

"Let's try to talk with it. Leave the speaking to me and don't do anything aggressive which might scare it off." She shot him a warning look and he nodded.

Faith felt a bit out of place with them whispering from ear to ear. She definitely recognized the red-haired elf next to the female one. He was the leader of the 'hunt' where three of his companions shot her. Faith had to admit, the female elf would stop a dead man in his tracks with her long blonde hair hanging freely down her back.

Although every elf looked good in general, she was another league. Her piercing bright blue eyes and her soft lips were her most visible features. Though everything about her seemed exquisite. Her expression very serious and grim, only adding to her charm. And this intimidating person was now staring at Faith.

"Ar ame, Mythal." Mythal articulated as slowly as she could muster as if Faith was some kiddo she was teaching how to speak. She even pointed at herself with her fingers as she repeated the same sentence.

Faith fought the urge to laugh at her efforts. Though it was a start, and surely a better beginning than to get killed!

The notion quickly died down once she heard the word 'Mythal' coming out of the blond elf's mouth.

" _No... No... No way. No fucking way Bioware. She is Mythal?! The Mythal who was viewed as one of the Elven Gods? One of the Evanuris? The one Solas held in regard so highly, dare to say love?_ " She was so nervous as if Queen Elizabeth the Second in person stood right before her. Though it was slightly different. Mythal was considered a god. A 'god' isn't a title to take lightly.

" _Okay, calm down._ " She knew that she was about to repeat the same mistake again, so she instead of panicking took a few deep breaths and gathered her thoughts. Before she completely lost it. She pushed the fact aside that the person she was talking to was supposed to be a god and concentrated on the here and now.

"Ar ame, Faith." She presumed that it meant 'My name is' so she gave it a shot too. Although her pronunciation was trash.

Hiding the surprise, Mythal continued with the conversation. Surprised that the creature proved to be no regular animal since animals didn't have the ability to speak as elven people did.

"Min na Feyrel." She gestured over to her male companion. Faith slightly bowed her head as he did.

This is as far as they can go with elven, Faith didn't understand more, but it was a good start. Now, Mythal had enough evidence to consider the creature as a legitimate being capable of higher intelligence and no threat to the village. And since they wronged her and even took her life, she ought to make up for it in any way possible. She allowed Faith to remain in the village and learn from them.

From this day on, Faith was called 'Enlea' meaning 'Light'.


	5. Close Yet So Far

"Enlea garas min!" shouted Feyrel at Faith, making her turn around to walk towards him.

Feyrel volunteered to be Faith's mentor. He owned her this much, though he expected her to be more hostile around him since his face was the last she saw moments before her death and mainly because he was the reason she died. He couldn't imagine what she must think of him.

Feyrel remained receptive since there was nothing to justify what he has done to her. In spite of being her mentor, he was also reassurance for Mythal, so Enlea wouldn't do anything stupid. If she was even capable of that. She had always this harmless aura around her.

Faith felt no hate or anger towards Feyrel. What happened was all but one big misunderstanding and even if he would have been the one who killed her, which wasn't the case, she would have forgiven him.

Yet he still felt guilty for the mistakes of his companions. He thought himself responsible for it. She found it incredibly selfless, and she wasn't sure if she was in his position that she would do the same.

Faith was determined to free him of his guilt, but her current elven wasn't enough to confess it to him, which encouraged her even more to learn it in a shorter amount of time. In the meantime, she tried to form a good relationship with him. She shoved her pain aside and focused on the pain of the others.

She wouldn't dwell in the past forever and besides, nobody cared for her feelings anyways, so she buried them to deepest depths of her mind. Shutting them off completely, separating herself from them to not let them have any influence on her decisions or cloud her judgment. She has been given a new purpose in this world and was about to follow through it to the end.

" _My pain is unnecessary. I can live with it._ "

She will save the lost. She will heal the hurt. She will fix the broken. Because after all, she was the same.

She just wondered who will save her. Cause she is in the good need for a hero who will save her when she can't save herself anymore. Though her mind doubted, her heart still hoped.

* * *

A year passed...

The villagers were a bit unfriendly to her at the start. Treating her like an outsider, as someone who didn't belong here, who didn't fit in. A freak. However, Faith expected this much and knew that gaining their trust wouldn't be an easy task and might take some time.

She presupposed that they were one of the ancient elves, the first to arrive into this world. Mythal's presence proved as much. And from one of the many things she recalled from scrolling through the pages of Wikipedia or watching Dragon Age Lore vids on YouTube is that the first of their kind wasn't known for being overall friendly to other races.

The humans were a good example, but that lied in the future. Judging from the hostile looks on their faces, they have never seen a human before, which Faith was, in fact, most similar to, besides the wings of course. Meaning the arrival of the human race hasn't occurred yet.

Most of them just avoided Faith, a few were brave enough to actually speak with her. If it even required bravery. And this few were: Mythal, Feyrel, her teachers plus Airrel. The blond man who had listened to her singing by the lake. His parents forbade him to further meet her later on much to her dismay.

Telling him that she was a monster and dangerous. Airrel, a clever boy, knew that this wasn't true. Faith told him to listen to his parents, and he woefully obliged. Yet it didn't stop the urge in him to see Enlea secretly at night. On certain days, he would sneak out of his room through the window and pay her a visit. He was the first she could call a friend, even when there was a gap in the age difference. Or so she thought.

He loved to listen to her sing, and she enjoyed his attentive company. She always sang to him in the foreign language (English in her world) he never understood, and Arriel never grew tired of it. Although in her world, she had never sung in anyone's company because she was shy, with him, Faith could let that go. Quite the opposite, he relished every second, every tone, everything change in her voice.

Being enthralled by the emotions her singing evoked in him. In return, he told her everything he knew about the village, of the villagers, of Mythal and so on. And taught Faith one or two new words once in a while.

But one time, they got caught. And Feyrel was the one to discover it. The villagers thought of it as a scandal. They accused her of manipulating the child, which Arriel denied with every fibre of his being, he wasn't far from begging everyone to believe him as the villagers voted to banish Faith into the wilds.

Faith didn't fight it, even though they were wrong. What can the two of them do against the whole village? She told Mythal the truth and waited for how she would respond. Their relationship was mutual, with there being nothing bad going on between them.

Mythal found herself in a difficult position between what was right and what the villagers wanted. She believed Faith but didn't want the villagers to feel afraid of the creature's presence. She managed to make a compromise: Faith was to be overseen by another two guards of Feyrel's choice and had been forbidden to have contact with children of the village including Arriel. And this way, the villagers tolerated her presence in the village.

Airrel's heart broke in two, he didn't know how much he missed to hear her voice until he lost it. It made him incredibly sad, his heart only desires to hear Enlea's beautiful voice again. Nothing else was on his mind, only the incomplete memories of his time with her. He didn't know why, but being with Enlea made him happy, and with her being gone, his overall demeanour changed. Furthermore, knowing she was there yet he couldn't be with her made him angry beyond reason.

" _How could they do this to me?!_ " This question crossed through his mind every time he saw the villagers pleased faces, now that Enlea was restrained. His anger progressively growing.

One day, he called his parents together. He needed something to tell them before he completely lost it. They became worried about their son's behaviour as of late. He was always so collective and friendly, now they weren't sure if they knew their son anymore.

The coldness behind every glare at anyone who talked to him, the rudeness in every word he spoke. That was so unlike him. The aura around him became all gloomy.

He stopped spending time with the other kids and locked himself up in his room after school. He spent most of his time alone and was not eager to let anyone talk to him. They suspected the creature's influence behind it and their hate for Faith began to fester.

They sat late in the evening at the dining table in their house. Looking in each other's eyes for answers, the tension hanging in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Until Airrel spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?" He broke the silence. His voice collected, covering the anger behind it almost perfectly. One look was enough for him to proceed.

"Tell me... How is it that everyone is all happy with Enlea now punished?" He tried his best to remain calm at the sound of her name.

His mother and father looked in unison at each other, not getting the point of the question.

"Isn't it obvious?" The father scoffed at him. Getting a cold glare from Airrel in return.

"This **monster** is where it belongs. As far from us as possible." His mother added. Their answers made his blood boil to the point of pain. He pushed it back, for now.

"Don't you realise what you have done to me?" Airrel asked again. Making his parents looking at him with confusing or dare to say even worried looks.

"What are you saying Airrel? We protected you from that ' **thing** ' before it could hurt you." His father's answer made him let out a bitter laugh. Much to their surprise.

"You call it ' **protection** '?! Is that what you call it? From who?!" Airrel snapped, making his parents flinch in their seats.

"From that **wicked** creature Enlea of course! You should have seen the **looks** of the others when you were with her!" His mother barked back with full force. But Airrel didn't waver. He had never disobeyed his parents or was troublesome but this made him come.

What he didn't expect was that they were separated because of his parents fearing the opinion of the masses. What a silly reason. He couldn't care less what others thought of him. But the disappointment he felt at the moment was unbelievable.

" **Enlea and a MONSTER?! You're wrong... ALL OF YOU!** " He released all the anger he kept inside at once. He shouted at them with such intensity that their eyes widened in disbelief.

His father now blinded by anger, slammed his hand furiously on the table. He was not far from beating up Arriel for his insolence.

"How dare you to speak with us like that, foolish child!" Airrel had never seen his father like that. Yet it didn't throw him off, not now.

As if hit by a spell, Airrel calmed down. Not by his father's fury, but from the sudden realization which made his heart crumble to pieces. His eyes widening, he looked at his parents.

"What a fool I am indeed. Believing that you of all people would understand. My own flesh and blood. It doesn't matter... Now that I see what you truly are." One single tear trailed down his cheek as he left them without another word. Airrel lost all hope in his parents, once and for all. He will never forgive them for this. Never.

He lost all hope now. Making him feel hollow inside, with nothing to fill it again. Losing both, his will and happiness to continue on living. Life without Enlea is meaningless. And since there was no way of seeing her again, he decided to end his life. In hopes, the pain would disappear.

* * *

It was morning and the sun shining through the window woke Faith up. She stretched out her body with a yawn and made her way down to the kitchen. She lived in Feyrel's house from the start. It was not like he minded. The day would go like any other. With her pacing around the village and picking up new things.

Faith missed the time she spent with Airrel. Although she thought he was a kid, from what she asked about his age that statement was nullified. He was actually older than her. He said he was twenty, something Faith wouldn't have guessed by the looks of him. She could swear he looked like a fifteen-years old boy to her.

But now that she thought about it, it wasn't something so unbelievable in the first place. Airrel is one of the ancient elves before Solas aka Fen'Harel created the Veil which started the ageing process of the elves, meaning he cannot die from ageing. Nonetheless, Faith wasn't so far from the truth, considering their definition of what they call young, he was was still a kid or more like a teen and she was too, by elven standards.

She was sitting on a bench far from the centre of the village. Deep in her thoughts, her eyes starring unfocused on some faraway point into the woods. She pictured Airrel's appearance in her mind. The tender curves of his lean muscles, his lightly tanned skin and the impenetrable eyes which have been always targeted by hers. And the way his short strands of blonde hair waved in the evening air.

" _Wait-. Stop. Stop. Stop! What am I even thinking?_ " She abruptly stopped her daydreaming. This felt like some girl talking about her crush.

" _OMG..._ " She realized something very serious.

The way her heartbeat got quicker when she thought about him, the way she saw him with her eyes, the way she felt so happy around him, the way he looked at her like there was nothing else in this world besides her. This led to only one simple answer. **She fell in love.** Faith covered her face with her hands to hide a deep blush from the guards. A quiet giggle escaped her, muffled by the inside of her palms which were firmly pressed to her mouth.

She was overflowing by such strong emotions, she thought she would burst any second. Never in her life had she imagined to fall in love this way. Something she actually didn't deem possible for her. Never had she ever felt like that about a boy. The butterflies in her stomach belonged to newer feelings.

The problem was, her inexperience in such matters, and it wasn't like she didn't have her own insecurities. After all, what happened, she was still that depressed high school girl drowning in her own dream world.

" _What if he doesn't feel the same? What if he rejects me? What if-..._ " Her short moment of euphoria turned into needless worry. There are the 'what ifs'.

Now she was the one being silly. Faith always scoffed at the insecure anime girls which were in a familiar position as her right now, but couldn't bring themselves to confess it to their crush. Now she realised that watching from the sidelines was so much simpler than experiencing it first hand.

" _Instant Karma, I suppose._ "

It was her time to fumble with the right words to confess to him. But there was another obstacle, and this was a hard one. She has been forbidden to meet him, so how on Earth was she going to confess it to him, when she couldn't even get close to Airrel.

God help her, she even felt like Rose from Titanic for one stupid moment. Now, she regretted her decision. If she had fought for him more, maybe they wouldn't have end up in such an impossible situation.

" _ **Fuck!** What a dumb piece of garbage I am!_" She mentally cursed herself. Well, there was no way she could have foreseen that.

They haven't seen each other in months, not even a single time. Her heart began to ache for his longing looks and attentiveness. She didn't pay it much attention back then, but now she felt different about it all. She wanted to see him so badly, just for a second. To shake even just a tiny bit of that unbearable worry Faith felt since she became aware of her feelings for him.

* * *

It was night, and Faith was trying to fall asleep. But sleep didn't want to claim her. The pain of being apart from Airrel tore her apart. It was unlike any pain Faith had ever felt before. So fierce and complete, comparing that to the ones she experienced in her world. This version a lot more painful.

Maybe because it was real. She didn't even care anymore if he wouldn't reciprocate her feelings. Because what mattered to her were his emotions and his alone. Hers didn't matter. She sought the reassurance that he was still happy without her even if it destroyed her heart completely. She positioned her chair by the window and rested her head in her palms, elbows supported by the ledge.

Looking up at the starry night sky brought her some sense of comfort yet it made her feel worse at the same time. She wished Airrel would be by her side right now.

She couldn't explain why. But always at the brim of her emotions, her mind picked up the most fitting song to sing. She followed her soul's desire to sing and simply shut her mind out of it and let her heart speak. A childish notion crossed her mind, but she tried it anyway.

Faith closed her eyes and imagined her fingers were on a piano. A normal piano from her world, with black and white keys. Remembering everything about the song she was about to sing from the countless times she listened to it. She lifted her voice to the melody in her mind along with her fingers playing the imaginary piano.

" **I don't know where I'm at, I'm standing at the back. And I'm tired of waiting. Waiting here in line, hoping that I'll find, what I've been chasing.** " Keeping her voice low, and the tune slow, she recited the words as if it were yesterday.

" **I shot for the sky I'm stuck on the ground. So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down. I thought I could fly, so why did I drown? I never know why it's coming down, down, down.** " In this passage, she slightly lifted the tune and she was unaware of the piano materialising in front of her. The piano was created by her mind and she didn't notice until she actually felt the flat surface of the keys on her fingertips. Her fingers moving on their own accord now.

" **Not ready to let go. Cause then I'd never know. What I could be missing. But I'm missing way too much. So when do I give up, what I've been wishing for.** " The last sentence made her nearly choke from the sobs that were making their out of her throat, but she pushed them down to not interrupt her little personal performance. She was amazed by how the lyrics perfectly fitted in, almost too perfectly.

" **I shot for the sky, I'm stuck on the ground. So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down. I thought I could fly, so why did I drown? I never know why it's coming down, down, down.** " A single tear made its way down her cheek as she remembered Airrel. Hoping her singing would somehow reach him through the vast distance. There was no way of stopping her to sing even louder.

As if Airrel shared Enlea's thoughts, he heard a faintly familiar voice coming from outside. As soon as he noticed it was Enlea's, he jumped from his bed towards the window and listened closely to it. With the wind making it harder to perceive it, but even despite that, he was certain it was hers. He would recognize her voice out of millions right away. And the strange melody that only could come from her helped a lot too. As expected, it soothed his pain as it did every time, though it left him wondering. Is she singing because she missed him as he missed her? Or was it something else.

" **I shot for the sky, I'm stuck on the ground. So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down. I thought I could fly, so why did I drown? I never know why it's coming down, down, down.** " Now her singing resonated through the village, something she did unintentionally. The soft sound made nearly every villager stuck his head out either the door or window to listen to the foreign melody. The song was as aggravating as it was sad.

" **Oh, I am going down, down, down. I can't find another way around. And I don't want to hear that sound, of losing what I never found.** " There was doubt in their hearts, but it soon turned into a mindless moments of peace. They were literally hypnotised by it.

" **I shot for the sky, I'm stuck on the ground. So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down. I thought I could fly, so why did I drown? I'll never know why it's coming down, down, down.** " The first to notice the source of the music was Feyrel. As he stood in front of the door to Enlea's room. He was ready to barge in and have a nice conversation with her but was too stuck up in the song. He dismissed the thought and went back to his room, leaving the matter be. But he was going to talk about it with Mythal.

" **I shot for the sky, I'm stuck on the ground So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down. I thought I could fly, so why did I drown? Oh, it's coming down, down, down...** " The was one thing for sure as her fingers played the last tunes of the song, the piano vanishing after the last accord, this was going to be tomorrow's main gossip topic of where the music came from. And who played it.

* * *

Note: Song: Jason Walker - Down


	6. Parental Worry

Just as Faith expected, there was gossip, but she heard only a portion of it. She didn't pay the rest of it much attention, mostly because she was absolutely sure nobody would have guessed that she was the source of the gossip. More importantly, she hoped it reached her crush. She still couldn't believe that she actually fell in love. A thing she had a hard time getting along with. For human suffering from depression, it wasn't usual to feel such positive emotions.

" _Well, no way of stopping that now. My heart chose and I will have to comply._ " She thought while sitting on a polished bench of cobblestone in the outside ring of the inner circle. Her simple borrowed of clay orange dress waving in the chilling morning breeze. Not that she minded, Airrel was indeed an attractive young man.

Being apart from him hurt. Not only because they were not together physically, but from the emotion that was accumulating from it. She wondered how long she will be able to last, but for him, she felt a surge of bravery washing through her, she would wait an eternity. If he felt the same.

And if yes, then she prayed he would hold on, because she knew how much it hurts and that it required no small amount of willpower to keep going. She frequently sang into the night in hopes that her feelings reached him somehow, to remind him that she was thinking of him, to bring him comfort when he was sad.

* * *

And he listened to it every time he heard her voice in the death of the night. Sleeping in his undergarments, he purposely shifted his bed closer to his window so he could listen to it in a more comfortable position. Sometimes he got no sleep at all. Depended on what sort of song she chose to sing. It helped, but it wasn't comparable to the real thing. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. He was filled with disgust whenever the townspeople spoke about the mysterious melody they have been hearing recently. Whenever he was walking through the many streets between the wooden huts after school.

From the first day on as Enlea began to sing, Airrel found himself more and more aware of his feelings for her. And not that it was just her voice, but her sudden change of appearance suited her too, at least from the last time he got to see her. Not that she wasn't gorgeous from the first time he saw her in the pond, it was just his boy instinct kicking in. She looked cuter with her nearly white hair. He still wondered what happened to her, but from their time together, she didn't want to talk about it.

The relentless need for her was almost unbearable. Her voice was like a drug to him, throwing him into an abyss of bliss just to be thrown back into reality. His thirst to experience it again, neverending. It haunted him even in his sleep.

Her whole self was just the most beautiful thing he has seen in his life. Airrel wasn't sure he could have known that someone as Enlea could exist. Never would he have thought, he would need a person so much, that without her, he felt like nothing. This creature was driving him into madness.

Day after day, he was reminded of what he had lost and it made him bitter and cold-hearted. Exchanging dangerous sidelong glances with anyone who dared to speak ill of Enlea in his presence.

His anger completely exceeding past his limits until he was forced to turn it into hate, to remain sane. And he gave up trying to hide it and let it be clearly visible for everyone. The villagers were keeping their distance from him ever since and his parents became really worried.

Airrel felt like his heart was crushed, his soul torn apart and his world destroyed. All he wanted to do lay down and cry, but he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him down. He will remain strong, for Enlea. Clinging onto what little hope he's got that one day he would see her again.

He wouldn't shed a tear in front of anyone. It wouldn't change anything, and besides, he didn't want them to indulge his tears. But that didn't stop the small hiccups escaping his control every evening now and then before sleep.

* * *

Another three months have passed since Airrel's heated chat with his parents.

His parents, Arnarel and Eloriel, had no idea what has been going on with their son. From what they have heard and seen first hand, Airrel's behaviour for the past few months has been terrible. His mentor's at school were sending a dozen of letters with complaints about Airrel's worsen attitude towards learning and his ignorant behaviour towards them. Some even came for a short visit to their doorstep.

"What are we going to do about it, Arnarel?" Asked his wife, utterly shocked about the information revealed to her in the late of the night at the dinner table. The worry sticking in the atmosphere.

"Maybe a little beat-up would be punishment enough. He has reached that age when boys get cocky." His hands turning into a fist, he looked at her, anger burning in his tired eyes.

Airrel inherited most visible features from his mother: pure blonde hair, juvenile face features (making him appear younger), and a thin body structure. But the short spiky hair, the sky blue eyes and the short temper... was all Arnarel.

"No!" Eloriel shouted at her husband. He flinched a bit at her unexpected outburst. The tension loosening in his body and making his anger vanish. She always had the power to stop him in his tracks, an ability that never has ceased to amaze him from the day he had met her. As if he was cooled down by a cold bucket of water, the nightly breeze touched his skin.

"I mean- er-..." She cleared her throat. She herself was surprised.

"I think the creature did something to him." The elven woman stated her opinion, she couldn't bring herself to say its name. Arnarel nodded approvingly. She had a point. Since Airrel met Enlea, he has been acting stranger by each passing day.

"We should ask Mythal for help." His wife suggested.

"You're right, we will visit her tomorrow. Once Airrel leaves for school." Arnarel answered before walking towards the bedroom. His wife joining him minutes after.

* * *

A day after...

The both of them went through two of the three inner circles inside the walls. The village was made of four circles in total. Three of them being on the inside and one on the outer sides of the wall. The village was built inside a massive sized forest, its thick leafs perfectly hiding it from all directions. That's why Faith didn't notice it at first when she was falling.

Mythal was, as expected, the founder of it. 'The Elder' so to say. There hasn't been any other ruler ever since its creation, and to be exact, there had never been a need for any other. She was very popular amongst her people.

The village was called after her, The Mythal Clan, which Faith wasn't expecting. She thought of Arlathan in this case but speculated if it would occur later in future. Such information wasn't mentioned in the Dragon Age lore and took her by surprise. But she thought already of a few possibilities considering this topic. It led her to another important question: If Mythal was here, where were the other elven gods?

From what Feyrel chose to tell her whenever she had asked at dinner, there were indeed other similar clans around the world, and he didn't even need to tell her what their names were. Knowing that they simply existed was enough for her. Though it made her genuinely curious about it all, she restrained herself from asking to not raise any unneeded suspicion and prevent them from having another reason to put her head on the pike.

The village fourth circle was something like a movable defensive line, securing enough protection for the safety of the inner circles. The walls itself were made of solid stone, with clay holding everything together. Not like the smaller inner walls made of the dark stems of the wood from the forest. They sure had plenty of them at disposal with the trees being as big as a building in New York.

The first of the inner circles, was where a great part of the village's population lived. The common folk, mostly. They had something like their own society though were still connected to the other. That is where Faith lived too, with Feyrel of course.

They were moved from the second inner circle to the first, because of that scandal Faith had supposed to have done. Airrel lived in the second inner circle where the wealthier people lived, the 'nobles' of this time, to put it simply. And at last, the third inner circle, was where Mythal lived.

The third was by far the smallest yet substantial part of the village. It was the heart of the Mythal Clan, meaning everything vital to the village was included, such as food storages for the coming next winters, weaponry, the very cultural heritage... basically everything the Clan had to offer. Faith noted to see for herself how it looked like sometimes. Though chances, as they stood, were slim.

* * *

That's where Airrel's parents went for help. After walking for a couple of minutes to get to the gates of the third circle, they were confronted by two guards watching the gates which was nothing unusual as the same went for the other gates.

The inner circle's walls were generally smaller and made of wood, unlike the outer wall. The reason for it being made out of wood was because of the progressive growth of the village. It is easier to move them, than a sturdy stone wall.

One of the two guards left his post and walked up to the incoming pair. "State your business." The armoured man's voice spoke up in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. The guard searched for any kinds of weapons in their possession.

Almost instinctively, Alnarel stepped in front of his wife without putting much thought to it. It was like a protective instinct that kicked in whenever he felt it was needed. Eloriel appreciated her husband's notion. She was rather fond of it herself, but sometimes, displaying such habits in the presence of the wrong people... causes problems.

Just to be sure, Eloriel took Alnarel by his arm, entwining them, and positioned herself to his right. She gave her husband a reassuring smile then averted her attention back to the guardsman. "We've come to seek an audience with Mythal."

"Your reasons?" She did her best not to show any signs of annoyance although it seemed an impossible task at the moment. She couldn't tell the difference if the guard was being overly protective or simply following orders. She hoped to avoid to go into the details, but on this one, she found herself at loss.

" _We need help._ " One last attempt to see if the cautious man would leave it be or dive further into the topic. He didn't back off either.

" _With what?_ " He kept his questions as short and as simple as possible to appear more strict. Leaving his expression perfectly unreadable throughout the whole conversation. Even his partner shot questionable looks at him from behind.

" _Our son,_ " Eloriel replied with a heavy sight. After another few inspecting looks at the pair, he turned on his heels and stalked into the gate's direction. "Follow me." He gestured for his partner to open the gates. It took him small of amount time to push the gates open by the time the three of them closed the distance. After opening the gates, he saluted to his superior and returned to his post.

Eloriel was surprised by her husband's calmness the whole time. She knew very well how he doesn't like to be put in tight spots wherever in a conversation or elsewhere. A trait Airrel was lucky not to inherit. Not that it affected her love for him in any way.

As they have passed the gates, Eloriel couldn't help but stare at the massive buildings surrounding her. Walking near them left her to feel tiny. The same feeling she got the last time she was outside the village next to the gigantic trees. The buildings were made of the same material as the outer wall, perfectly to withstand harsh weather, though that was rare for this region.

The land was overall flat, and green grass was only on the untouched spaces with a flower now and then appearing there too. They were walking on pathways which were a mixture of small stones (they were brought from the bottom of the pond where Faith bathed) and red clay (which came from a habitat northerly from the village) plus beautifully detailed wood fences along it.

They walked together on a pathway that led to Mythal's estate. While Eloriel was overly fascinated by the place, there was this lingering feeling of loneliness in the air. She had seen very few elves since passing through the gates.

"It must be incredibly lonely here." She whispered in Arnarel's ear. He simply nodded, unaffected by his wife's observation. She looked at Arnarel from the corner of her eye, wondering what he thought of this place. She mentally noted to ask him after all this.

Alnarel felt Eloriel's gaze and thoughts resting on him, since they arrived here, doubt had taken over his mind. He was unsure if it all would work out with Airrel. He was, after all, their only child. They both loved him wholeheartedly.

Yes, they did often get into fights, disagree with each other, argue, but it is what happens when you have a family. They forgave each other automatically after some time. But this, it's different. After their little chat from a few months, he barely even said something to them. Airrel avoided them, he didn't even want to look them in the eyes, he became completely withdrawn. Arnarel was worried about what was going on with him.

While deep in his thoughts, he managed to quickly grab his wife's arm so she wouldn't bump into the guardsman who abruptly stopped. Eloriel spaced out for a second but averted her troubled gaze from the guard to his husband. She gave him a weak smile before looking up at the astonishing house before them. She swallowed hard, searching Arnarel's hand to entwine it with hers, then entering Mythal's estate.


	7. Before I Lose Control

It was the best clue they had at that moment. Who when not Zefran could tell them more about what truly occured, as he was there when it all began. And with great conviction, more than just a victim in this case. There was no way that an anger demon appeared by accident, it couldn't. It had no reason to, there was no corpse it could have taken over or enough negative emotions from which it could have fed off. Or perhaps... they might have summoned it.

But they would have needed a mage in order to do so, and from what Mythal knew, no mage she has cognizance of is specialized in such type of magic. To be exact, manipulating spirits or demons, especially demons since they are extremely dangerous, is forbidden and the culprit will get exiled from the Mythal's Clan territory, in the best case, or sentenced to death, judging by the severity of his crimes.

If that was the case. Then who would risk the rancor of the whole village? Was it an act of revenge? Or perhaps something not even Mythal could have seen coming? Or something else entirely?

Mythal sighted, as a headeache started to form in her head from all the mussing. It was clear that she was still tired and her companion took notice of it right away.

"Is something wrong?" Feyrel asked in a lower tone than usual.

"Just a simple headache, nothing to worry about." The blond-haired replied with a huff, looking in the other direction to hide her weary face, when Feyrel abruptly stopped in the middle of walking and catched her by the forearm in a firm grip. Her breath caught in her throat as he turned her around with ease to fully look at her. Electric blue orbs meeting forest green ones, she became fully aware of her companion's soft breath hitting her features.

"I don't want you to push yourself too much." He said with such softness that it startled her. Worry flooded his voice as she met his penetrating gaze.

Her heartbeat became unsually faster than it has ever before, and she was left with the inability to form words. Her view was trapped by his glowing eyes. She couldn't avert her gaze, or to be honest, she wouldn't. Why hadn't she noticed this beautiful green in his irises earlier? Or were they brighter than before? She couldn't tell. From somewhere in her, she felt an urge to touch his slightly-tanned skin, but uncertainty stopped her from doing so, until the moment ended, when Feyrel dropped her arm.

"Uhm... I am sorry." He murmured, barely audible, suddenly feeling embarrased. Mythal took notice how his cheeks turned slightly red as he put up a short distance between them. She wasn't sure if someone saw the small twitch of the corner of her lips and frankly, she didn't care if it did. They fell into pleasant silence as they made their way towards Zefran's house.

* * *

" _Why do I get that feeling that Feyrel's hiding something from me?_ " Faith became suspicious of her mentor's behaviour as of late. She heard some rumors around, that an attack happened not so far in one of the many gangways in the first inner circle. He informed her most of the time about everything that happened in the village, even though he wasn't obligated to. But this time was different, he kept it from her as if it had something to do with her. What problems could she have caused now, when she spent most of the time either with studying with her lecturers at home or on some walks.

" _Are the villagers getting paranoid again? Do they fear I would steal all their children or what? I mean, come on! Am I really that scary? And here I actually thought that the new hair color suits me. Ahhh..._ " She scoffed at her miserable position.

" _Okay, jokes aside... I honestly have a bad feeling this time. As if it hadn't been just a simple accident but something way more serious. Wait..._ " Her logic connected her bad feeling with her crush and the simple thought of it brought pure terror into her soul.

" _Oh my God, Airrel... no, no, no. He is surely fine, he must be._ " Faith tried to convince herself, but it was harder than she had imagined as she realized that this might have been the reason why Feyrel kept it from her, he knew she had a connection to Airrel. One thing that calmed the rising anger from her mentor's decision, was the thought of him doing it for Faith's own safety. The villagers still haven't forgotten about the scandal a year ago.

Nevertheless, she desperately needed to see Feyrel, despite her lingering anger towards him, for Airrel's sake, but he had left with Mythal to investigate and Faith had no clue where he could be at the moment. It was like searching a needle in a mountain of hay, the first inner circle was by far the biggest comparing to the other two and to her disadvantage, who knew if he wasn't in one of the other circles?

She wasn't allowed to enter the second and third circle without him. She would have given up as it all seemed impossible, however, that's what her old self would do... but now, its completely different, she couldn't give up so easily now that there was more at stake than it had ever been in her life. Her feelings and care of Airrel's safety ignited her long lost determination and self-confidence. She made up her mind.

* * *

He glared at the mirror in front of him, trailling a random pattern over his bare upper body, before he splashed his face with cold water from a wooden bucket positioned under him. He had visible circles under his dark-brown eyes, indicating his body's need of rest. He leaned infront, his arm supporting the weight of his body.

"It's cool, Zefran... Don't stress... you're okay, just count to three..." He began talking to himself, visibly stressed.

"Don't be scared... You own this school... If I wanted, I could beat anybody there, even my lecturers... You're the one in control... Nobody will question your authority..." After failling to realize how long he had been staring into the mirror, he was giving himself a little prep-talk. But then, he looked at the forearm which got injured recently, and all the memories he tried to deny came rushing back.

He felt his breath shuddered at the simple thought of the flames Airrel created, the heat, the pain they've caused. He has never been so terrified throughout his entire life and he was more than sure that this event will haunt his dreams for days to come.


	8. Demon or Mage?

He was like a bright flame as he moved through the forest. Despite it being so dark outside, he very well remembered the way to an all familiar pond. The flames engulfing him were slipping his control and would soon burn him to ashes if he didn't do something soon.

Lungs aching from the running, he didn't stop. Until his eyes caught the sight of the water's surface. He didn't hesitate a second and jumped headfirst into the cold water. It felt refreshing against his scorching skin. He swam back to the surface to pull air into his lungs.

The moment his breath settled down, he looked up to the sky. It was a full moon. He stayed in the water until he could feel coldness invading his burnt limbs. Wet to the core, he crawled out of the pond. Had taken the time to squeeze the water out of his soaked clothes and hit the ground from exhaustion. He supported his weight on his elbows and looked at the perfect reflexion of the night sky on the water surface.

That's where everything began. That's where their eyes first met. That's where he fell in love.

Images of Enlea standing in the middle of the pond ran through his mind. She was so breathtaking. He turned away before it could bring even more painful memories. He felt cold, freezing. The aftereffects of the magic he had cast, started to kick in. He felt tired, his limbs were heavy to the point that even breathing became a challenge. And most of his skin was burnt, not as severe as Zefran's, but painful enough. He walked into the forest without destination nor will.

* * *

Hours seem to have passed as Elnoriel and Arnarel discussed the matter with Mythal. Until they were suddenly interrupted by a soldier barging through the doorway. Jolting the pair on their feet.

"Mythal, an anger demon appeared in the outer circle and a boy has suffered injuries from its attack."

"I am coming." She shot up and let the soldier lead the way. By the time they arrived, the soldier reported all the details he had gathered from the witnesses.

Zefran laid on his back, sweat covering his brow and a dozen healers looming over him. She shoved them away to get a better look at the boy's injury. The soldier didn't exaggerate when he had said that the wound was deep. No wonder that the local healers had trouble helping him. That was a wound out of ordinary, and impossible to heal with herbs and bandages only.

Magic was required and even Mythal didn't know if it would be enough to fully close the wound. They had only two options: either cut the arm off or heal the arm to a certain degree but risking it to be deformed.

Mythal hated to make such type of decisions. Decisions that had a heavy impact on someone's life. But being the leader and one of the few mages that can cast healing spells comes with a sense of duty. She wasn't obligated to do anything but to rule over them by her heart's desire, but her conscience wouldn't let her.

No! She wouldn't be like them. Like the clan leaders of the other clans. An absolute ruler with an iron fist and no pinch of care for the people. A tyrant to whom his people are slaves, or so she heard. That's when she decided.

"Okay, I need space and..." She started by giving out orders to each faction and swiftly explained her plan and possible outcomes if it failed.

"Healers, be ready to assist me throughout the process, prepare more healing balms and make sure we have enough bandages. We're gonna need them."

They nodded and carried out their orders without seconds of hesitation. "What should we do, Mythal?" one of the nearby guardsmen asked with a stressed expression from restraining this place from attracted villagers. She could hear the relentless cries from behind her back. The additional turmoil didn't help Mythal the slightest, just giving her another stupid headache. The villagers could be a pain in the ass, sometimes.

"Umm..." She contemplated in hurry, but nothing came to her mind as the noises became louder and the boy's breathing heavier.

"What's going on there?! We want answers!" Their shouts intensified and the guards were pushed back by the crowd of people. Mythal's temper exploded and she bit the inner wall of her cheek to keep herself from snapping. She resisted the urge to go there herself and give them a scolding they would never forget but was reminded of her responsibility for the boy as she looked at his state. Damned people! Couldn't they be quiet for a while?! Her hands were tied, she had no other option but to trust the guards to calm them down somehow.

"Call for reinforcements! If the villagers won't see reason, you have the permission to push them back by force." The senior guard saluted with a knowing look in his eyes. He knew what she had meant. She looked after him from the corner of her eyes before he disappeared from her view, not noticing the pair of healers positioned next to her. She was so stressed out that she hadn't noticed them earlier. A bad sign she was getting slower and she wasted to much time on absolutely unnecessary things rather than on the dying boy.

"Hold him in place so he can't move. I can't be disrupted when I cast the spell." No pleasantries were exchanged between them, only strict orders as the both of them moved around Zefran to pin him down by his ankles and shoulders. To Mythal's luck, they were both calm nonchalant despite the whole situation, seemingly more experienced and talented than the first glance showed.

"Lad, be prepared." He was barely conscious at this point. "Let's start!"

The moment her green glowing made contact with the scorched skin, Zefran screamed in agony and his muscles tensed to such an extent that his veins were peeking out of his skin.

" **Hold him in place!** " She barked hastily at her assistants, taken back by the strength left in the boy's body. As were the two boys next to her, nobody could have expected that Zefran could evoke this much power in such a state. So she didn't blame them for not being prepared for it. But it didn't matter as the outburst was momentary and it was leaving him each passing second until he couldn't fight back anymore and continued to breathe uneven breaths.

She managed to stop the bleeding and heal the bone but, she had reached her limit.

This was a far as she could go. Her mana wouldn't be enough at this point. **No!** She wouldn't give up. She refused to as much as she didn't have the luxury of doing so. With the last thing in need to be healed was his skin, she pushed her limits. Clenching her teeth to the point of breaking, sweat dripping of her brow and her body trembling in response to accessing her very last resorts of mana in Mythal.

Her head was staggering and her vision blackened at a rapid pace and she wasn't sure if it still was enough until she saw the skin getting patched up, a silent encouragement to push on. After what seemed like an eternity to her, though it were only seconds, Zefran's wound was closed and a huge relief had crossed her face before passing out from exhaustion. One of the assistants was attentive enough to catch her numb body before it could hit the ground.

Her sudden state alarmed them for a moment before noticing she was only unconscious. Too heavy for one of them to carry, his comrade called the guards for help and carried the two of them home from the other side of the gangway so the rallying villagers wouldn't have another reason to go wild while the other informed the one who was in charge of the guards of the happenings. The good news was enough to dissolve the massive crowd that had gathered on one side of the aisle, enabling the healer to take Zefran home for treatment.

* * *

Mythal awoke early afternoon. She tried to get up only for her muscles to remind her, to let it be, Aching to the bone, She had only managed to get into a sitting position, unusually tired eyes skimming her surroundings. She was in her bed. Changed from her travel coat into a woollen tunic and leathers. Sighting in relief, she threw herself back onto the comfortable mattress. Trying to remember the events of yesterday. Wait...

How long has she slept? She immediately shot up, ignoring her body's protest and left her bedroom. She went to her office, a letter catching her eyes placed in the middle of the desk. She carefully opened it to look at the content:

" _Come to my house once you_ ' _re ready to investigate. I will be waiting there. And the boy_ ' _s fine, great job healing him._

 _-Feyrel_ "

A smile grew on her dry lips. It didn't happen often that someone praised her with words. As surprising as it may sound. Although anyone who she had helped, showed her some kind of gratefulness, to her, it seemed more and more that the people of her clan took it as a matter of course and it annoyed her at some point how they always expected her help. They were relying on her too much these days, Nevertheless, she was more than satisfied to know that the boy's healed and safe, no need to worsen her mood by thinking of things that weren't going to change any time soon.

She folded the letter and laid it into a drawer in her desk and made her way to the dresser. She couldn't go investigate dressed like that, but in a matter of seconds she had taken her first step, her stomach roared in disapproval

"Guess breakfast comes first."

* * *

After good two hours after seeing Feyrel's message, she knocked on the door of his household. The door opened with a quick swing and Mythal was surprised to see Enlea standing in the doorway and it was more than clear that she wasn't expecting her either. She literally jolted out of surprise to see Mythal.

"Jesus Christ!" Said or maybe shouted, the half-to-death scared woman, clinging dramatically at her heart and comically widening.

Ignoring what unknown words came from Enlea, Mythal couldn't hold back the laugh she was desperately fighting to suppress.

"Mythal! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" The other woman's eyes sparkled in joy to see her.

"The same goes to you Enlea, I hope you're doing alright." Her gaze flickered at the woman's hair. A constant reminder of all the things the clan did to her, perhaps for eternity. Mythal's eyes visibly saddened at the memory of her succumbing to the injuries. The images are still fresh in her mind as if it happened only yesterday. It was a miracle she mysteriously survived that, though Mythal anticipated something else behind it. Yet what amazed her the most was that Enlea didn't harbour any vengeful intentions nor feelings of either hatred or rage when she confronted Feyrel or the rest of the clan.

She forgave him for killing her, even though it was indirect. This simple act of forgiveness appeared so obscure to Mythal. One does not simply forgive such actions so easily. And surely not without asking for penance or any kind of retribution in return. However, she didn't ask for any of those things even though she had every right to do so. It left her wondering how much kindness must someone as Enlea had in the first place. It must be unmeasurable.

Yet again, Mythal was baffled by Enlea in every way possible. At some point, Mythal mused if she had done the same would she have been in her position. She couldn't even imagine. The pressure on her shoulder got her back into the present. Gentle orbs that had the colour of a storm were keeping the clan leader at bay.

"What's up with that look?" Sensing her disturbed mind, Enlea asked with a soft smile mixed with a hint of worry in her voice. Mythal repeated the gesture and smiled back.

"Nothing." It happened rarely that somebody interacted with her like a friend, an equal. And it surely had never happened that Mythal felt inferior to in Enlea's presence although she knew only she felt that way, somehow, it was relaxing to feel like a simple woman for once and not the clan leader or anything else.

Sometimes she wished she would be, pass her responsibilities for someone else to handle and just... live, but thinking about someone else carrying her title felt wrong or perhaps she discovered a part of egoism in her she hadn't known it existed. At least around Enlea, she felt normal or more like the self she had never the chance to show. Just herself and not the perfect leader everyone expected her to be.

With her, she had the warm feeling of safety, a place she could lay down her heart and knew it would be protected. A shoulder she could cry on, a person she could tell all her worries, problems, struggles and not to be judged. And exactly with this: strange creature, she felt that sort of way.

"I need to see Feyrel, is he home?"

"Oh, yes! Come in." Faith guided her into the house, leading Mythal to the kitchen, where Feyrel was eating lunch.

"G-mnh-ood after-hmm-noon." Feyrel greeted with his mouth full. Enlea simply rolled her eyes, apparently used to this kind of things. Mythal struggled immensely to hold back a laugh when she saw Feyrel trying to talk with his mouth full. He looked like such a child. His eyes were hidden behind his overgrown red locks as he towered over his meal, clearly enjoying.

"How are you doing?" Feyrel asked after swallowing a big spoon of meat covered with a tasty sauce. Mythal found his worry endearing, really.

"Tired, but I'll manage." She confessed with a sight.

"Good to hear. Prepared to investigate?" He asked in content of his warm belly. He thanked Enlea with a slight bow of his head and stood up. Mythal wondered who of these two cooked because the smell in the air was appetizing.

"Ready when you are." She supported her weight on one foot when her other grew too heavy to stand on. In the meantime, Feyrel helped Enlea to take the dishes away from the table, and after that, he and Mythal bid farewell to Enlea before leaving her alone at home.

Feyrel hadn't told Enlea about the latest happenings and left her to believe that he had no idea that she was the one who sang in the night. It was better this way or he tried to convince himself of it. It's better when some things remain untold, for the time being. For her own safety, she had already enough problems with the villagers, not that she had any choice in this matter. Enlea was smart enough so she would definitely discover it one way or another.

They walked in a quicker pace through the village's circles, Feyrel reporting everything that transpired or from what he could gather from the report of the witnesses after Mythal was unavailable. Problem was, every villager had seen it differently, so it was hard to know which one was the closest to the truth. But from all the information he's got, he managed to divaricate them into two versions.

Version one being that it was an anger demon summoned by some students while the second option would be that it was an uncontrolled magic caster. Although not one of the known mages were missing so it was a strange assumption and the most unlike one. The abilities of a mage caster are revealed right after birth by another mage, such as was Mythal and a few others. Such was one of the first laws which were created: ' ** _If a new life comes to this world, and was blessed by nature with the ability to perform magic, it should be raised and taught from its own kin, to use its abilities for and only the greater good of the people'_**.

As it stood then, it was pure speculation. They needed more information, some ground in their investigation of this rare case. Therefore, their first trace led to the victim of it all, Zefran.


End file.
